During the manufacture of microelectronic devices, many layers may be fabricated on a substrate, and a reticle or photomask may be required for each layer that may be formed, or patterned on a substrate, such as a silicon wafer. A reticle protection structure, such as a pellicle, may be used to protect the reticle from contamination during processing.
As the dimensions of patterned layers on microelectronic devices have become increasingly small, radiation sources such as deep ultraviolet (248 nm or 193 nm), vacuum ultraviolet (157 nm) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) (13.4 nm) have been are being used or are being considered. EUV lithography, which uses a source at 13.5 nm wavelength, is a promising technology for 0.03 micron and below microelectronic device fabrication, for example. Since the absorption at that wavelength is very strong in most materials, EUV lithography may employ reflective mask reticles, rather than through-the-mask reticles used in longer wavelength lithography. The EUV absorption may make it difficult to protect the reticle by utilizing a typical reticle protection structure.